Setup Laravel API: A Complete Guide for Beginners

Laravel is one of the most popular PHP frameworks that offers simplicity in building web applications and RESTful APIs. In this guide, we will learn how to set up Laravel specifically for API development.

Prerequisites

Make sure you have installed:

• PHP >= 8.1
• Composer
• A Database (MySQL, PostgreSQL, etc.)
• Laravel Installer (optional)

1. Create a New Laravel Project

Open your terminal and run one of the following commands:

Using Composer:

composer create-project laravel/laravel laravel-api

Or using Laravel Installer:

laravel new laravel-api

Navigate into the project folder:

cd laravel-api

2. Configure the Database

Open the .env file and adjust your database configuration:

DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=laravel_api
DB_USERNAME=root
DB_PASSWORD=

Then run the default Laravel migrations:

php artisan migrate

3. Create an API Resource

Example: We want to create an API endpoint for Post.

Run the following command:

php artisan make:model Post -mcr

This command will generate:

• Post model
• Migration file
• PostController (resource)
• Automatic route in routes/api.php

Edit the migration file in database/migrations/...create_posts_table.php:

$table->string('title');
$table->text('content');

Then run the migration:

php artisan migrate

4. Define API Routes

Open the routes/api.php file:

Route::apiResource('posts', PostController::class);

5. Test API with Postman

Laravel automatically formats responses in JSON. Try accessing these endpoints:

• GET /api/posts
• POST /api/posts
• PUT /api/posts/{id}